Written question WQ95397
- Asked by
- Darren MillarConservative
- To be answered by
- Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
- Tabled
- Due
- Answered
- Time to answer
- 6 days
Question
Will the Cabinet Secretary confirm the precise threshold for declaring a critical incident for ambulance response?
Answer
Answered by Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs
Declaration of a critical incident is an operational decision based on the realities of demand and capacity at the time. There are a number of variables in informing the decision-making and there is no set formula in declaring a critical incident, but such a declaration signals to the wider system:
· the pressures being experienced by the Trust;
· the risk of patient harm from extended community waits; and
· the heightened need to do everything possible to release ambulances being held at hospitals.